From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sectarian violence or sectarian strife is violence inspired by sectarianism, that is, between different sects of one particular mode of thought, not necessarily religious (e.g. conflicts between the nationalists and communists in China in the early 20th century are largely constructed by Chinese nationals of the time as sectarian). Some of the possible inputs for sectarian violence include power struggles, political climate, social climate, cultural climate, and economic landscape.

• economic - capitalism and collectivism
• political - communist and nationalist
• Christianity - Catholic and Protestant
• Islam - Shia and Sunni

Northern Ireland has seen inter-communal conflict, particularly in the period from 1969 to 2002 known as "The Troubles". Nearly all the people living in Northern Ireland identified themselves as belonging to either the Protestant or the Roman Catholic community. People of no religion and non-Christian faiths are still considered as belonging to one of the two "sects" along with churchgoers. In this context, "Protestants" means essentially descendants of immigrants from Scotland and England settled in Ulster during or soon after the 1690s; also known as "Loyalists" or "Unionist" because they generally support politically the status of Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom. "Catholics" means descendants of the pre-1690 indigenous Irish population; also known as "Nationalist" and "Republicans"; who generally politically favour a united Ireland.

There are organizations dedicated to the reduction of sectarianism in Northern Ireland. The Corrymeela Community of Ballycastle operates a retreat centre on the northern coast of Northern Ireland to bring Catholics and Protestants together to discuss their differences and similarities. The Ulster Project works with teenagers from Northern Ireland and the United States to provide safe, non-denominational environments to discuss sectarianism in Northern Ireland. These organizations are attempting to bridge the gap of historical prejudice between the two religious communities.

Scotland suffers from a spill-over of Northern Irish sectarianism due to the many people with links to both communities living in the country, particularly in the West. The Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers football clubs have provided a focus for this, with Rangers being the Protestant and Celtic the Catholic icon.

Both teams subscribe to government initiatives, and charities like the Nil by Mouth campaign are working in this area, but there are still some fans on both sides who sing sectarian songs and display slogans and images related to the conflict in Northern Ireland. Celtic recently wrote to every season ticket holder banning sectarian behaviour at Celtic Park. Rangers' equivalent anti-sectarian policy is called Pride Over Prejudice [1].

Even in recent years, deaths and serious injuries have taken place after Old Firm matches. [2]

Rangers fans have struggled to shake off the large loyalist element of their fanbase, and have been suffering with various sanctions from UEFA in recent years.

In Islam there are many examples of sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. One example was in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. This can also be seen in nearby Pakistan where conflict has led to bombings, and in post-2003 invasion of Iraq where there are elements of conflict between the majority Shia and the previous ruling Sunnis. In November 2006, "sectarian violence" became a commonly used phrase by the Bush Administration in place of the term "civil war" when referring to the war in Iraq.

The term "sectarian violence" also appears with great frequency in American popular culture. The Los Angeles-based band Sectarian Violence was one of the first musical groups to seize upon this current in popular culture.[3]